


Iain Glen in KIDNAPPED, a meta

by bellahadar, clarasimone, ItsZulaworld, Terisrog



Category: British Actor RPF, Game of Thrones (TV), Iain Glen - Fandom, Jack Taylor (TV), Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: 18th Century, Acting, Adaptation, Adventure, BBC Masterpiece, Character Analysis, Eros of performance, Essays, Film Aesthetics, Film criticism, Literature, Meta, Multi, Mythology References, Narrative Analysis, Performance, Political Discourse, Romanticism, Scotland, Spoilers, Yentl - Freeform, film analysis, non-fiction, swashbuckling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23626777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellahadar/pseuds/bellahadar, https://archiveofourown.org/users/clarasimone/pseuds/clarasimone, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsZulaworld/pseuds/ItsZulaworld, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terisrog/pseuds/Terisrog
Summary: This meta, the second, in what we hope to become a long series of analyses shading light on the works of actor Iain Glen, concerns itself with the 2005 made-for-tv adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure tale KIDNAPPED.
Relationships: Alan Breck/Catriona, Alan Breck/Davie Balfour, Iain Glen/Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11
Collections: IAIN GLEN metas





	Iain Glen in KIDNAPPED, a meta

**Author's Note:**

> Because this is a thorough analysis, it is of course full of spoilers. But they should make you want to run see this film if you haven't already.

**IAIN GLEN IN _KIDNAPPED_ , A META**

_Why KIDNAPPED?_

_Because after all the suffering Jorah went through, seeing Iain Glen playing a charismatic extrovert adventurer seems like something the doctor could order. His Alan Breck has all the BDE of his evil anti-heroes, but wrapped in a feel-good character “rrrrrrrrrrrrricherrrr in personality than the rest of us” to quote IG himself!_

_And, THAT is a rare treat!_

**THE PLOT, AND ITS POLITICAL/MYTHOLOGICAL DISCOURSE**

**TERI**

Davie Balfour is kidnapped by a crew commissioned by his uncle who doesn’t want him to get his rightful inheritance. The ship's captain means to sell the boy as a slave in America when Alan Breck, a Jacobite rebel, stumbles on board and escapes with Davie. Davie wants to get back to a lawyer as soon as possible to regain his estate, but his path is now entwined with that of Alan Breck…

**BELLA**

The movie is based on the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson _Kidnapped_ , with some alterations, of course. The character IG plays, Alan Breck Stewart, was a real person, a Scottish soldier and 18th Century Jacobite. He escaped to France after the Jacobite uprising was defeated, and then returned to Scotland to collect money from the Highlander clans to organise the return of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

**CLARASIMONE**

This meta won’t be about comparing the novel to the two-part BBC mini-series (sorry for those hoping we would), nor will it be about debunking fiction for the historical truth... 

Nonetheless, simply using the film as text, much can be said and appreciated about KIDNAPPED’s political and “mythological” discourse. By mythological, we mean how this adaptation makes the viewer dream of an idealized, mythical Scotland (shot in New-Zealand to boot ;-), a nation longing to be free since time immemorial, a Romantic quest perfectly personified by Iain Glen’s rebel hero, Alan Breck. Alan who, with Glen’s remarkable singing voice, gets to fervently deliver a few lines of the freedom anthem “The Skye Boat Song.” Contemporary audiences know this historical folk song as OUTLANDER’s theme, and in a strange occurrence of foreshadowing, Breck/Glen sings it like others pray... 

_*gif by @favor757_

His singing is quite moving _and_ manipulative ;-) as he does this to sway back his friend James into active duty as an Highlander rebel. Hear for yourselves; I for one would have followed him to the ends of the world, and the new Rebellion:

Myth-making therefore becomes political when Breck’s almost fairy-tale like stature and beliefs keep being compared to (by the filmmakers), and contested by, characters embodying the “real” Scotland. Namely, old friends and comrades who have lost their luster because they, unlike Breck, stayed in Scotland after the defeat of the Rebellion. They are the ones now trying to survive and make a life for themselves, composing with English domination: James, who has a teenage daughter to think of, and a small hamlet to protect; Cluny, still a Highland rebel but obligated to live in a cave with his clansmen because he’s lost his castle. And then, of course, there is young Davie who stands on the threshold of adulthood when the story begins, and who is perfectly poised between Breck’s idealism and his comrades’ pragmatism. Davie, whose story this is really, journeys through the picaresque plot much like Voltaire’s Candid: an Innocent learning about life’s harshest truths (family betrayal, avarice and corruption in men, the historical oppression of his country, which he knows nothing about, being young and a Lowlander) but who, thankfully, finds an uplifting mentor and companion in the flamboyant Alan Breck. By identifying with Davie, the viewer is able to journey through the discourse of this production and understand how much diplomacy and compromise, but also courage and brazen idealism, it will take to free Scotland one day. The ending is especially eloquent in driving these conflicting notions across… but we’ll get to it in due time.

**ALAN BRECK IS SO NOT-JORAH**

**BELLA**

For those of us who have only watched GoT and JACK TAYLOR, Iain Glen’s character in KIDNAPPED will come as a BIG surprise. We all love Jorah - a man of few words, restrained, a true knight, with a past, but with a good soul. He is a bear, he has a bear’s grace, a golden bear’s scruff and soul. And this is true of Jack Taylor too. (I personally think Jack Taylor is a modern Jorah). 

But this description does not fit Alan Breck. We may see period clothing, a sword (he fences) and ginger curls - but Alan is so not-Jorah... Alan is a FLAME! From the very beginning, this man is always a bit too much - he is energy-bursting. His natural default condition is running, jumping, putting on the charm. I literally was smiling and laughing during the whole film, because his joy of living is contagious, he is pure joy. He is very emotional, and he expresses his emotions freely - for example after they’ve fought for the first time together, he spontaneously kisses Davie, exclaiming he loves him like a brother! Can you imagine Jorah doing something like that? 

And what I personally liked very much, and which was very new to me, was seeing Glen’s character LAUGH as he speaks! I found it irresistible! I have seen a few characterizations by Iain Glen now, and they were all different, while still retaining some traits in common, but I wasn't expecting him to play a character like Alan Breck - a flamboyant ginger beast. His acting talent is even more phenomenal than I thought.

**CLARASIMONE**

It might not sound very Serious and Academic to start a meta gushing this way about a performance, even if it belongs to the thespian that inspires and bounds us to our readership ;-) But it is the one singular overwhelming quality of this piece, this showcase of theatrical upmanship which Iain Glen displays from beginning to end. Especially if one discovers this performance after 8 GoT seasons of superbly internalized characterization. And just to drive this notion home, I feel like copy-pasting here the short zinger I published on Tumblr after discovering KIDNAPPED. Because surely it means something that this man’s unique approach to performance in this film affects us so much:

_I love the irrepressible energy of Iain Glen’s performance as adventurer Alan Breck: the flourishes, the abandon, the grace, the zaniness. He runs, jumps, fences, prances, poses and stances, mesmerizing the light and the camera in the most joyous example of what he excels at, namely exploring the Eros of Performance. And not for any other person than us. His only love interest is the viewer and by gosh, he doesn’t hold back :-0_

_The ginger curls galore, the open shirts, the plaid, the lilt, the bagpipes, the brogue. I mean, Ser, you had me at “I fear I took the worst of it, Captain,” his very first line when he tumbles on a ship full of sailors he’ll take on, fencing with gusto._

_Like the young hero of this classic story, I would have followed him anywhere and everywhere. I would have pretended to be a teenage boy; I would have cut my hair, I would have “yentled”* him from here to eternity, never looking back._

_This is why I love film so much: all of this, all of Iain Glen circa 2005, in this particular incarnation, in this particular time & place, on planet Earth, was caught on celluloid and, with a wee bit a luck, we’ll always be able to see him like this. In all his manly and thespian glory. _

*To understand the reference to YENTL : <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1Qgjb1AVxY>

**TERI**

I feel IG sums it up well in the [press pack for KIDNAPPED](http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/02_february/04/kidnapped_glen.shtml)!

“He’s a very dual personality. He’s an extrovert who has a deep vainglorious belief, but nonetheless he’s sacrificed his life in fighting for Highland independence and their right to retain the life and community that they want. It’s a wonderful contradiction. Something quite altruistic done in a very egotistical way.”

Alan really is flamboyant and buoyant. He radiates energy and never runs out; even when exhausted he's just so proud to have won the round. He's proud of all his tricks and this just fuels him along. He generates energy with energy. He expresses everything he feels, with hugs and stubbornness and laughing and shouting. I think in that, too, he appears to Davie as a figure of freedom. Alan is freedom incarnate to Davie because he stumbles on a slaver's ship and escapes; but he is also free in his choice of clothing (the brazen blue French redingote, the outlawed tartan) and with his emotions which he wears on his sleeve. As such he is the opposite of Davie: who's been kidnapped, and who's more of an introvert.

**CLARASIMONE**

Proof that we are not the only ones enamoured of IG’s unbound energy and theatrical flourishes is the care with which the filmmakers go about setting up the key scenes involving his thespian prowess. There is, of course, his _vaudevillesque_ entry into the film (NTSC / PAL, part 1, 39M09). He literally stumbles into the scenery (while, as the saying goes: chewing it) when his hand and then his face pop into view from under the ship’s railing, his arms holding himself up before springing his tall frame forward and pirouetting over and unto the deck. But not before showcasing a devil-may-care flashy smile from behind his oh-so-vain (and sexy) goatee. THAT is a star’s entrance.

The next sequence pits Breck with the Captain in his cabin but, in a reversal of usual interrogation mise-en-scenes, the Captain is the one sitting while Breck remains standing… because the filmmakers need him to be, as they want him to act flamboyantly. And he doesn’t disappoint! Framed in a frontal composition by the french doors, Alan prances about, that straight-on view underlining the theatricality of his demeanor. Our adventurer is putting on a show for the Captain; and for Davie, who's watching from the wings, as it were (the boy is crouching on the floor studying Breck). The heavy brogue, the lifting of the chin in pride, the hands moving through the air showing off the white lace spilling out of the sleeves of his blue coat: oh! he lays it on thick, this proud cock! Until the morose and suspicious Captain flatly calls him out, identifying him as the adventurer rebel and _naming_ him. To which, Breck answers with an (hilarious) almost-curtsy, putting his hands to his chest, closing his eyes in false modesty and tipping his head. Though he was trying to fake his way through this scene, you can tell our hero is actually overjoyed at having been found out.

Glen has been on screen but a few minutes and already his scenes overflow with self-reflexive elements celebrating Performance and Characterization. This production really has at heart to make us perceive Alan Breck’s mythical stature and it does so with great postmodern relish :-)

(And, for the life of me, watching these scenes, I couldn’t stop myself from remembering Peter O’Toole’s hilarious take in _My Favorite Year_ , as an over-the-hill and panicking thespian in musketeer costume, screaming “I am not an actor, I am a movie star” while proving to us the very reverse:<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTbLkYmWZJo>)

A few minutes later (NTSC, part 1, 45M10 / PAL, part 2, 2M00), as Breck and Davie have taken refuge inside another cabin and prepare to face their foes, IG orders Davie around, to rearrange the decor for an ambush. There, he clearly treats the space like his own made-to-order stage which he uses to practice fancy sword moves meant to prepare him for battle, _but facing us once more_.

The head-on camera angle and the flat composition underline the superlative theatricality of Glen’s performance, to which we have front-row tickets. He is all at once a prince and a cock, elegant and over-the-top… while also flirting with “dramatic and profound” when he delivers a fervent indictment of the English and the Lowlanders, and signs himself, before the slavers finally charge in for the kill:

There ensues an up-tempo fight scene during which IG displays his usual grace, ease and stamina. And when the paso doble dual swording is done, Glen closes the doors with a grand gesture, puffing up his chest like a peacock and, swivelling round, he cues the music to flare and then halt (!). Our actor (and surrogate director) then opens his arms and lunges for shaken little Davie whom he kisses emphatically, even humming with delectation when his mouth devours his cheek (THUD)… which leaves Davie heaving and breathless. I wonder why? 

...Of course, Davie is shaken up because he’s just killed his first man. So let the official record stand by this, while we gorge ourselves on the pansexual subtext.

(And, I swear I will not perpetually interrupt this meta with references but, once more, for the life of me, I could not stop myself from harkening back to another over-the-top heroic performance aboard an 18th century ship. That of Johnny Depp in _Pirates of the Caribbean_ , I hear you ask? Nay, our man is much more in line with the flamboyance of Burt Lancaster in _The Crimson Pirate_ who, like IG, did all of his stunts and was gleefully irresistible: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLV0Ye2hIjk&t=7s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLV0Ye2hIjk&t=7s))

Alan Breck’s self-trumpeting of himself as a bigger-than-life character, and Glen’s self-awareness of the theatricality of his body language truly feed into, and enhances, the mythmaking at work in the political discourse of this production. Breck is the untamable, unquenchable, immortal zeitgeist of rebellious Scotland. He embodies her very spirit but in a lean, muscular, and joyously virile, musketeer-like hero. 

This said, please do not take my word for it! We need one or two more examples, because, let’s face it, we don’t tire of seeing Iain Glen communicate Alan Breck’s energy. He is, they are, a force of nature. First, Zula recalls the source of his unbound energy...

**ZULA**

Alan's actions are driven by instinct. Every choice is dictated by survival, his and that of the people who are close to him. Especially Davie. Throughout the film, his life, like Davie’s, is in jeopardy. Their friendship is born of danger, from the very first moment when they meet aboard the ship, and it remains so. And as the danger grows, so does their friendship. And it deepens because of it. 

After the death of the “Red Fox”, which Alan Breck did not kill but is wanted for nonetheless, they are forced to flee and travel through deserted mountain landscapes. And neither abandons the other. They help each other, they motivate one another and continue to run tirelessly. In their flight through these awe-inspiring lands, they are chased by three bounty hunters, really bad characters. The Good against the Bad. The good boys run as if they were flying, with their light clothes, without ever giving up because they are driven by a goal that is much more important than mere survival: they want to be free. While the bad characters are ugly, dressed in black, burdened by weapons and driven only by the hatred and scent of the reward money.

**CLARASIMONE**

And, I would add, Zula, that the filmmakers underline the symbolism by often shooting the heroes’ flight from above (there are several helicopter shots - they even grace the credit sequence), and with a telephoto lens that make Breck and Davie appear weightless as they run through the landscape. Reversely, they film the bounty hunters close to the ground, in wide angle lens shots that distort the black ominous figures. And in slow-motion too, at times, with a foreboding musical score accompanying their death march.

Alan Breck’s physical prowess, his running as a stylistic figure and metonymy encapsulating his essence, is showcased in multiple sequences... but one of my favorites has him running through the forest, and then towards the camera at full speed, regardless of the fallen tree trunks lying between him and the lens. The up-tempo music giving him wings, he ducks below a trunk and slides over another into a sitting position, his arm extending daintily to recline on the bark, while he flashes his famous smile and sighs in contentment. As seen here:

**DEFINING ALAN BRECK THROUGH COSTUME DESIGN**

**CLARASIMONE**

MJ Cauliflower, Head of Costume Design of all IG projects, is looking very pleased with herself ;-) Read on:

**BELLA**

Basically, Alan Breck has 3 main outfits during the film. 1. His blue french coat. 2. The Tartan coat which his friend Cluny gives him 3. The White open shirt (of sex)... Well, I will NOT mention his incredible beauty, and how good his clothes look on him, and how sexy he is! (Get out of my mind, leather pants, I DO NOT speak of you)

**CLARASIMONE** **interrupting this self-flagellation by Bella to say that, no, you must include the leather pants (of sex). They are part of IG/Breck’s Eros in this film. They participate in making him an irresistible specimen of virile heroism! And give him rock star status… before there were any rock stars, of course. But please continue...**

Why is Alan Breck wearing a blue french coat in Scotland? After the Jacobite’s defeat, he fled to France with Bonnie Prince Charlie, joined one of the Scottish regiments serving in the French Army, and returned to Scotland wearing his French regiment’s wardrobe to collect money from the rogue clan leaders in order to finance the next uprising.

Well, did I mention that Alan is always a bit "too much"? 

**CLARASIMONE:** **Yes Bella, and it’s part of his theatricality :-)**

Well, his coat is too. (NTSC, part 2, 18M30 / PAL, part 3, 12M18) Like his friend Cluny says: "They’re looking for the one man in Scotland stupid enough to wear a blue French coat." It's a very distinctive piece of clothing, so when snipers, looking for Alan, find a small piece of blue fabric in the bushes, they know exactly to whom it belongs. And yet, he doesn’t care. He knows no fear. He wants to flaunt; he craves the danger…. 

Alan’s rebel friend Cluny tells him that he should take the blue coat off because it's dangerous to wear. Alan objects: "This isn’t just a coat, man! This, this is a statement! It’s a rousing cheer to the cause! It says ‘I will never be oppressed!’" To which his friend answers, shortly and with words as sharp as a blade: "It says ‘Shoot me’.” 

It's so very much like Alan to value the symbolism of his coat more than his own security, his own life. But Cluny is more pragmatic. And saving Alan from that risk, he takes that risk upon himself, by wearing that blue coat and trying to fool the snipers in the mountains. 

( **CLARASIMONE:** **possibly because he feels like playing the hero one last time, and to bond with his shell-shock boy whom he brings along on his caper?** ... **Before Cluny sacrifices his life and inspires his son to speak once more to take on the rebel’s flame, the old Highland Lord does indeed persuade Alan to let go of his blue redingote and IG’s performance in that moment is priceless, as Bella demonstrates below.** ) 

There are two different, almost opposite expressions on his face: 1. The adult part of him is like: "It's my cause, my case, this coat is a statement, and I refuse to part with it just to stay safe. 2. But with Alan - there is always a boyish flamboyant part of him shining through, and this small boy Alan, a poser and a gambler, is like "But I'm a highlander hero in a blue french coat, will I be heroic enough without it?" He feels like he might lose part of his identity. And when Cluny gives him that red tartan coat saying: "If you must be a target, use this" - oh you should see Alan's face! Two expressions again, all at once very similar, and very different: 1. Adult Alan: “Oh, this tartan coat is even more symbolic than my blue coat, it's true Scottish tartan, so the symbolism is even greater!" 2. Boyish Alan - "Yeeaaah, and it's forbidden, it's dangerous to wear and I’m not losing part of my identity. I'm a Highlander hero in a Highlander tartan coat!" So first he looks like a small boy, who becomes very sad and frustrated, when someone takes his favorite toy, but then he gets even more excited when that person gives him another toy instead, a better one! Isn't he adorable?!

( **CLARASIMONE:** **Yes, though we also want to smack him!)**

So now, Alan Breck is running through the mountains once more but, this time, in a red tartan coat ( **CLARASIMONE:** **and leather pants** ). And there is symbolism in his change of clothes. At first, he was sort of playing at being a hero, not really belonging to those mountains anymore, his blue french coat jarring with his surroundings. This time, he is escaping from real danger; he is being chased like many Highlanders have been; he is once more feeling what is to be a Highlander in Scotland. At first, he was almost a foreigner, returning from France and not knowing much about current problems and challenges of his fellow men. Now he is one of them again, facing the same challenges.

The next time we see Alan changing his outfit occurs when he, Davie and Catriona (James’ daughter) get to the city. He must take off his tartan coat because it is outlawed and very noticeable; he could be reported. He remains only in his white shirt (shirt with a view, yes, thank you Teri for that expression!) And it’s dressed like this that we see him in one of the most moving, most tender and most transformative scenes in the movie. When Davie leaves to search for the lawyer, Alan and Catriona stay in partial hiding, waiting for him, and suddenly they see English soldiers, escorting James, Catriona's father, to his execution. This is not supposed to happen NOW, it's unexpected, and their reaction is precious.

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So here we have Alan in his open white shirt WITHOUT any symbol linking it or him to his cause and his heroism. He’s without a piece of clothing that can dictate how he should act - he is no longer dressed like the rebel who almost despised his friend James for becoming a peaceful citizen; he is no longer the Highlander who values his fight more than his own life and his friends' lives... He is open, vulnerable and defenseless. This white shirt is his soul, which is not a rebel’s soul, not a hero’s soul, but a human soul. And in that moment, he makes a decision, which contradicts his previous behaviour: he decides to come out of hiding to try to save his friend meant to be hanged because of him. We don’t actually know what he plans to do, because the lawyer whom Davie has found intercedes to save the day, but we see, clearly, that Alan was ready to report himself, to be hanged, in order to save his friend.

Earlier in the tale, we saw Alan looking on as James was being arrested and we saw him run away, leaving his friend behind, driven by his cause, in his blue french coat! And he thought the man who gave up on his fight didn’t deserve to be saved! Well, this was before. Egoistic, boyish, cruel Alan has vanished now, giving way to a more mature, and humane Alan. And this transformation has clearly been shown through the evolution of his costumes’ design.

When we see Alan again, in the final scenes, after the "white shirt scene" - he is wearing his tartan coat again, he puts back his rebel-hero-Highlander face again. I don't say "mask," because it's clearly not a mask, I say “face”, because it is him. His true spirit, recomposed. He has earned Cluny’s red tartan Highlander coat, because he was willing to die for his friend James the same way Cluny died for him.

**In which a special case is made of Alan Breck’s “magic buttons”:**

**BELLA**

The silver buttons on Alan’s blue coat mean a lot to him. They belonged to his father, and have acquired symbolic status. When he must separate from Davie, in the first half of their adventures, he gives him one of the buttons and says: "I had this button from my father. I think you’ve earned it. If we get through this, we’ll be washed ashore in the Highlands. Wherever you go, just show that button." (NTSC, part 1, 53M00 / PAL, part 2, 11M12) And it works. The button gives him safe passage and enables him to befriend the old crow who weaves outlawed tartans...

**ZULA:**

In Alan and Davie’s race through Scotland, it is clear that the good guys win thanks to Alan’s malice and his "magic" buttons. They can not only be used as currency but also, when he sacrifices one of them by throwing it away, distracts their pursuers.

**TERI**

Zula, I love how you refer to them as "magic buttons"!! It's true, there's a certain magical quality to them: they give safe passage, they are proof of one's identity (friend or foe). This makes me love the end even more, with Alan giving his remaining buttons to Davie. It's almost like he doesn't need them anymore (because, thanks to Davie, he achieved a legendary status in his own right); and so he gives them—bequeaths them to Davie—to continue the chain, so that the magic buttons can still show the path to freedom to everyone, from one Buttons Holder to the next.

**DAVIE AND ALAN’S RELATIONSHIP FURTHER EXPLORED...**

**BELLA**

Alan Breck is not a standard "hero" in Davie's eyes - he sometimes acts boyishly, does stupid things (gambling), is not completely fair and doesn’t act the way he’s supposed to. So actually, instead of pure admiration, which a teenage boy is supposed to feel for his adult and fearless companion - we see a sort of partnership develop between them, a friendship, and sometimes Davie judges Alan and is angry at him, and doesn't approve of his acts. We see Alan through Davie’s eyes and our attitude towards him changes and transforms throughout the film. 

Sometimes Davie is teasing Alan, but Alan takes it seriously, and his ensuing insecurity simply looks adorable. When they are travelling through the mountains, at one point Alan clamors: "Beautiful women just can’t seem to resist me." To which Davie mentions that he met a woman who claimed she got to know Alan intimately, but she was old and had a beard. Instead of laughing it off, Alan panics: "Davie, tell me you don't believe her!" (NTSC, part 2, 3M00 / PAL, part 2, 43M32) It's clear that Alan cares VERY much about his image as a hero. He doesn't want it to be spoiled by a non-fitting story!

Another funny and remarkable moment about Alan as a character and about the Davie/Alan relationship occurs when they spend the night in the cavern where Cluny and his clansmen hold camp. While Davey is peacefully sleeping, Alan is playing cards, gambling the whole night, and he loses all his money, the money the Highlander clans collected for him and all of Davie's money too, the money Davey got from his uncle! So Alan feels guilty and ruined the next morning, and Davie understandably confronts him, lecturing him on honour and remaining true to his cause. To which Alan answers (in typical dualistic Iain Glen characterization) that though he is a gambler and a careless man sometimes, he remains true to HIS fight, HIS cause, and he swears he will regain what he lost. He’ll be a hero but on his own (shaky and shady) terms.

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**TERI**

Davie and Alan have a two-way relationship. Alan Breck is sometimes a father-figure or a hero-figure in Davie's eyes. For instance, Alan gets very emotional with Davie. He carries a sleeping Davie and tucks him in (NTSC, part 2, 13M30 / PAL, part 2, 7M32); and Alan wants to do right by the boy before heading to what could be his death (NTSC, part 2, 41M00 / PAL, part 3, 35M15). But it's also much more than that: as you said Bella, Davie often confronts Alan and doesn't hesitate to expose Alan's failures. He pushes Alan to be better just as Alan makes Davie grow up. And they do save each other's hide. There's a dialogue at the end where they each thank one another for saving, well, their soul (NTSC, part 2, 52M50/ PAL, part 3, 46M42). I feel like this is at the heart of their relationship; they feel such affection for each other, but they're also there to save the other from themselves, to push each other to reach higher. It's not often you see a true friendship with an age-gap between individuals. In KIDNAPPED, the story and characters arc show how the older character can learn from the younger one, while still cutting an inspiring figure.

**… AND HOW EROS PLAYS WITH OUR MIND**

**CLARASIMONE:**

Of course I agree with everything you wrote, ladies… but I will indulge in a little flight of fancy that’ll bring us back to the beginning, the Eros of performance.

Remember my first spontaneous meta: “ _Like the young hero of this classic story, I would have followed him (Alan Breck) anywhere and everywhere. I would have pretended to be a teenage boy; I would have cut my hair, I would have “yentled” him from here to eternity, never looking back.”_

Iain Glen being who he is, as a performer and thespian, and as a shaman of sorts (yes, please indulge me) communicates and communes with his fellow actors, whether they be female or male, and love interest, comrades or foes, in a no-holds-bar fashion…. meaning he imbues every relationship with Eros. And this does in fact tint his relationship with Davie.

That scene I described earlier, on the slaver’s ship, after Alan and Davie fight together and win the day, when at the height of his exultation and a formidable discharge of adrenaline (or is it endorphin?), Iain Glen turns to his young fellow actor and exclaims, with great flourish: “Come to my arms, Davie” and kisses him, almost on the lips? THAT moment is an erotic moment. It is dizzying with homoerotic subtextual possibilities. 

(Let’s face it, young gay males watching this film are queering its text, to this day, and let’s not spoil their fun. I mean, my God, you’re a young gay teenager and this Sex God mentors you through Scotland and breathtaking adventures? I’d sign up…) OK, where was I?... 

The way Iain Glen connects to his young fellow thespian is SO charged with emotion and ALWAYS based on physical prowess and proximity -- Glen is always hugging, touching, jousting Davie -- that one cannot NOT feel that their spiritual and emotional bond is also deeply physical and, therefore, has all the markers of a romantic relationship. 

Us four were struck by how intense some of the eye-line cuts were between Alan and Davie: when Alan feels guilty for having gambled all night and seeks forgiveness; or when he is exchanging coats, shedding one skin for another, checking to make sure Davie will still admire him. Clearly, Alan is a man craving admiration and love.

The most notable moment though comes near the end (NTSC, part 2, 41M00 / PAL, part 3, 35M15), when Alan agrees to surrender himself to the English in exchange for his old friend James. The scene is set up beautifully, in that the counter shot from Alan gives us both Davie and Catriona. They react together to the news and to Alan, making it hard to tell with whom Alan is trying to connect. But when he is rewarded for his heroic actions with a spontaneous hug from the lovely Catriona, the director makes sure we notice that Alan _only_ has eyes for Davie. He holds the girl in his arms but he doesn’t enfold her, doesn’t bury his face in the nook of her neck, or her long fiery mane; he looks and smiles intently at Davie, with tears pearling in his eyes. Alan wants Davie’s approval and love even while he holds Catriona in a bear-like hug that would have made us faint had the recipient been Daenerys in GAMES OF THRONE ;-)... 

Again, I can only imagine what this kind of mise-en-scene and acting does to a gay audience. It is such a clear invitation to queer the text, including having female audiences wish they could pass themselves off as a teenage boy, _à la_ Yentl. And all of it is so evidently welcomed and broadcasted by Iain Glen’s generous, daring, Dionysian pansexual approach to seducing, that I find myself compelled to write it once again: here lies Eros of Performance incarnate.

On that subject, it’s worth further remarking that Catriona, though meant to be identified as Davie’s possible love interest (because she is a teenager like him and Alan enjoins his young friend, when they part at the end, to think of the young woman in a romantic way) is in fact _older_ than Davie… and just old enough to be within reach of Alan. It might strike contemporary audiences especially, given Iain Glen’s casting karma: he’s been paired with younger to much younger love interests in recent years (GoT, JACK TAYLOR, MRS WILSON, DELICIOUS, THE RED TENT, even the RESIDENT EVIL franchise, yes work with me). So while I stand by what I’ve just described, namely that the director makes sure we see that Alan and Davie’s relationship weighs more than any other in this production… Iain Glen ALSO magnificently inflicts his Eros of Performance upon Catriona when his scenes pair him with the young actress playing her.

When Catriona, hell-bent on saving her father, rejoins Davie and Alan, and raises a rifle on them, shooting the ground where Alan stands, Glen walks to her, his face transforming just for her, while the shots counter-shots and the dolly-ins push Davie out of his and Catriona’s eye-line. He locks on the young actress and brims with ardour, trying to persuade her of his good faith and valor (I swear, I’m seeing Jorah in the gladiator rings for a moment there). Getting close to her, you think his leather-pants-and-tartan-clad body will slam into hers but, instead, he reaches behind his back and takes out his pistol to thrust in her hand. He then falls to his knees, and offers his whole body to her, arms lifted in the sign of the cross, daring her, pleading with her to shoot him if she deems him guilty… 

If Alan Breck is a peacock at the beginning of this production, he transforms here into an erotic martyr, demonstrating SUCH abandon in this gesture, I half expected Davie to look away in modesty!

In fact, Glen’s Eros of Performance towards Catriona is so strong, it makes Zula officially ‘ship them:

**ZULA:**

It’s not a strong theory but indulge me: the first scene they share occurs when Alan goes to James (Catriona’s father) and asks if Davie and he can spend the night. That evening, Catriona goes to Alan to give him a brown coat, which he doesn’t want because it’s not his style. Of course, there is nothing romantic in this scene. But what is its purpose? What does it say about her? She simply wants to give him that coat? Just so the others can’t find him so easily? Just because he’s a friend of his father’s? Mmm, maybe. However, there is this tension between them, because basically she believes Alan is a bit crazy and a bit selfish, and so she speaks to him in a grumpy way (she does NOT want to be one of the many women who melt for that oh so handsome and heroic man). And Alan, obviously, replies in a very offended way, and goes from the room throwing the coat away. In the second scene, when she finds Alan and Davie on the hill, and she points her gun at Alan, though she shoots near his feet, she doesn’t hurt him. When Alan kneels before her, again she doesn’t hurt him. She never hurts him (I, for one, would have at least slapped him if my father had risked death because of him).

Catriona defies the pride and presumption of Alan. He “surrenders” to her and decides to follow her into the city to try to save her father while Davie tries to find the lawyer who can help him with his inheritance. Alan and Catriona then have this intimate scene together, hiding behind columns. She rests her back on one of these pillars while he stands in front of her, looking at her lips constantly and then caressing her cheek to calm her, even entrusting her with his tartan coat when he decides to take action to save her father (OH MY GOD, LIKE “SOUL KEEPER”)... At the end of the film, when Alan parts with Davie while Catriona looks on, he makes sure to tell his young friend about Catriona’s qualities, tells him to “think on her” and then he raises his hand to wave at her before turning forever. In short, I feel Alan has some kind of feeling for Catriona but he knows he leads a dangerous life, he cannot secure her future, he could never take her away from her land and so he hopes Davie can give her all these things… but he loves her, if only because she is the daughter of his dear friend.

**_(To which Teri replied:)_ **

**TERI**

Ohhh interesting theory! It's entirely different from what I thought and so I loved reading how you analyzed the situation!! The way I saw it, the lack of love/sex life of Alan Breck in the movie just pushes forward the fact that he's becoming a "legend." We know he had multiple conquests (though of course he was the one always breaking hearts, because he's Freedom Incarnate—a little bit of a Don Juan/Giovanni figure there, hey) but at this point in his journey, the fact that he's entirely dedicated, or "in love" so to speak, with the Scottish cause contributes to his "larger than life" figure. And, at the same time, he wants Davie to have a normal life and tries to set him up with a lady he thinks is perfect for his friend: lovely, a good shooter, smart. So, in my mind, Alan was mostly appraising Catriona for Davie ("is she worthy of my friend? Can I entrust him to her?"). And, as for Catriona, well, for me, she knew she was looking at a handsome man (because how could she not??), but wasn't really feeling more than that.

**_(Which brings us back to my Eros of Performance theory, ah!)_ **

**CLARASIMONE:**

Zula, as you confessed to us in private, you will ‘ship whenever the smallest opportunity arises :-) and though I feel like siding with Teri’s reading here, if only because, clearly, the film tries very hard to secure its nature and function as a family-oriented adventure yarn, devoid of any real love story (why am I flash-forwarding to our meta on BLACK BEAUTY here?), the fact remains that, I too, felt the erotic tension which Zula describes. But I never identified it as stemming from the narrative. I see it as the inevitable by-product of Iain Glen’s particular approach to acting. 

The same way we're not supposed to think there is an actual homoerotic relationship growing between Davie and Alan, but cannot help to observe all signs to the contrary, one cannot NOT see that Iain Glen is giving off erotic vibes in his private moments with Catriona. When we look at stills from the “columns” scene, we could swear we’re seeing one of GoT’s many “unrequited love” scenes between Jorah and Daenerys with Iain Glen looking longingly at Emilia Clarke.

Glen does indeed look at his young, beautiful co-star with puppy eyes, his glance does glide to her lips and his large hand does cup her cheek and neck tenderly. But did you notice his hesitation? His hand instinctively goes to her but then waivers and instead of truly enveloping her, like a lover would dare to, he only tentatively lets the tip of his fingers come into contact with her skin, his hand never fully going for the kill, nor his lips for that matter. One is left confused and a bit dizzy. It’s like a big brother scene but brothers aren’t supposed to touch you this way, are they?

And so there you have it. Iain Glen, in a family film where he plays an adventurer without any love interest, goes all out in his interactions with his male _and_ female co-stars because this actor communicates with ALL that he is. This man understands that the boundaries between the soul, the heart, the intellect and our sex drive are but social constructs, and therefore possible fallacies. The thespian does not hold back.

**THE ENDING AND THE MAKING OF A HERO**

**TERI**

One of the things I loved about Alan Breck is that he is conscious of trying to be a hero. It's not enough for him to be a rebel and a Jacobite: he wants to be a figure of the cause.

Catriona defines him thus to Davie: "His whole life is a lie; he's a dreamer. He's living in a Scotland that's vanished" (NTSC, part 1, 1H15M58 / PAL, part 2, 32M30). Alan Breck is a dreamer, but he strives through all his flamboyant actions to make that dream come true. He dresses as a statement and wears his French blue coat as a symbol that he "will never be oppressed" (NTSC, part 2, 18M40 / PAL, part 3, 12M27). He's a character defining himself as a character and hopes this will be enough to change reality.

Davie helps him achieve that goal. Whenever Alan Breck is not enough of a hero in Davie's eyes, Davie urges him to act like "the Jacobite rebel [he] claim[s] to be" (NTSC, part 2, 20M25 / PAL, part 3, 14M17). And later, as Alan plans to give himself up to the English, Davie tells Catriona that “a real hero would die trying to escape” (NTSC, part 2, 48M45 / PAL, part 3, 42M42). Alan himself fears he can disappoint Davie, and this fear drives him to be bigger than life and drives him towards his path as a legend.

**ZULA:**

So in this classic coming-of-age story, Davie is not the only character undergoing a transformation in the course of his adventures. Alan is too. Confronted by every new encounter, he changes and grows as a true Man.

Yes, physically and legally Alan is already a man, but part of his soul is still enclosed in his own private world. And in this place, he can still be the child he is no longer or whom he never was. And this side of him comes out especially when he makes bad choices, exactly like certain children are prone to do. The best example being that night he spends gambling in Cluny’s cave, losing all the Highlanders’ and Davie’s money. 

But I don’t judge his behavior, and I can understand that in a world where there is only hatred and death for him, Alan tries to spend at least one night without care, without fear even knowing that it is not the right thing to do.

Alan is afraid of death, as we all are of course, and therefore every time he is in trouble or in danger he runs away, even leaving behind lifelong friends, and putting them in danger. 

But in this endless race, Alan grows, his honor takes the place of fear. By the end of his journey with Davie, and then Davie and Catriona, he decides to save his old friend by handing himself over to the army. And so, for the first time, Alan understands that the life of others is as important as his own, and that one cannot hide from their problems and mistakes forever. In that scene, for the first time, he doesn’t turn back to flee, but looks straight ahead and walks boldly towards the English, who seize him and pull him to the ground tying him to a horse.

In that walk, composed of just a few steps, Alan turns from the boy he was into the Man he always pretended to be.

THIS ISN'T A GOODBYE

The relationship between Davie and Alan is beautiful but also complicated. I think Alan sees the boy, not only as a friend, but also as the man he could never become. He knows that Davie, once he’s recovered what is rightfully his, will be able to live a normal life, a life without running from the law, without people wanting to kill him, and especially a life with someone at his side.

For all his bravado, Alan is a lonely man. He has (had?) friends and companions who protect him, but he also knows that he must fight his battles alone not to endanger those around him.

At the end, he decides to leave for his own protection, but also that of Davie.

The last scene, the scene of the farewell is so precious. Though it is sad, Alan tries to calm Davie, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder and pulls him to him, walking side by side. He then gives him his “magic buttons”, though they mean so much to him, asking Davie to keep them for him. With this gesture, he wants to make the boy understand that that is not really goodbye. Davie will always have, with him, a part of his friend and a memory of their adventures.

Davie says: "Thank you... for saving me," and Alan answers "I think it was you who saved me, Davie". 

Alan is not just referring to the fact that the boy saved him from certain death. Davie also saved his soul, redirected him to the straight path which Alan was walking away from.

**CLARASIMONE:**

I couldn’t agree more, ladies. And let's add that this exchange occurs right after the plot has finally got us to accept that Scotland _will_ have to learn to live under British law and rules, in a way repudiating Alan Breck hardcore heroic nationalism! 

Indeed, if truth be told, the protagonists win the day, not simply because of Alan’s heroics but because Davie is aided by one honest _English_ lawyer…. and 200 years later, the viewer KNOWS of course that Scotland is still part of the UK, driving the stake deeper into our hearts. But we’ve made peace with this as a viewer and then, _wham_ , the filmmakers reintroduce the dream of an independent Scotland! And they do it by reinstating the almost otherworldly aura, and the inextinguishable idealism, which Iain Glen’s character carries with him. He’s won the battle of the bagpipes, earlier in the film, his music that of Scotland’s wailing ghosts; and he’s told Davie: “I should have been dead a long time ago”.... (NTSC, part 2, 41M55 / PAL, part 3, 35M47) So it’s as if his character carries with him a portion of eternity! And through him, we are led to believe that it is OK to _want_ and _need_ to dream of a nation. It is our _right_ as human beings...

So now, I feel I must, like you, dive into the finale, underlining how the aesthetics of the scene make the moment moving and the screenplay once more constructs IG’s character’s mythic scope.

(NTSC, part 2, 50M31 / PAL, part 3, 44M22) Just before the end scene, Alan is seen, all wet, fleeing with Davie from the English on a river’s bank, aided by the marksmanship of Catriona and Cluny’s son. From the river run, we dissolve to the sparkling but calmer waters of the sea loch where a small skiff awaits Alan. Davie has found his friend a safe passage. The water motif subtly suggests Breck is baptized anew and the calmer waves at sunset signal the parting to come in a lovely melancholic way. As they say their goodbyes, in intimate shot counter-shots, we see an out of focus Catriona being included behind Davie’s shoulder -- you are quite right Zula, it’s an important addition because the two young persons are in Alan’s eye line and somehow almost merge, on a metaphorical level, because of the composition. Both of these young characters were loved by Alan, even if Davie takes top honors, and both actors were privy to Glen’s Eros of performance. 

Just before Alan is about to “vanish into the sunset,” like some hero out of a western, the camera captures him in profile, his face juxtaposed to the sky and glorious mountain backdrop and it glides from his face to his gracious open hand sliding his remaining silver buttons into Davie’s waiting palm… to thank him for having saved his soul and shown him the way to true honour and heroism. But I felt a pang, here. Didn’t you? I suddenly asked myself, why?, why part with the last of his buttons, why add: “I don’t think I’ll be needing them”? 

Yes, it is the passing of the flame, and Davie will possibly use the buttons to finance his life with Catriona, but it also felt like a gift one bequests… before dying. Won’t Alan need money where he is going? Is Alan giving up, not only on the rebel cause but on life itself? No, of course not. It cannot be actual death the filmmakers are contemplating for this character, it’s something else, grander and in line with what has been brewing all along. Namely the final brushstroke in the construction of Alan as a mythical national hero. Where Alan is going, there will be no need of material things because he’s about to dematerialize and attain immortal status……. 

An impression reinforced in the next moment when, stopping Alan’s departing steps away from him, Davie calls his friend back and asks him if they’ll meet again. We cut to Iain Glen then, in a telephoto shot that keeps him, and only him, in focus, the folksy bagpipe music romancing his last words. Though he is far from Davie, Alan doesn’t shout, making his almost amorous murmur as much for us as it is for his friend, and after each pregnant pause, the scope of his speech becomes more and more myth worthy: “Of course we will. ( _pause_ ) One day, Scotland will be free again. ( _pause_ ) I’ll be the first man home.” 

**(TERI**

In this moment, ensconced in his last lines of dialogue, when we hear Alan say "One day", it is like hearing the omniscient narrator of fairy tales —or legends. In this, also, Davie saved Alan; he urged him to be the legend he strived to be and to always aim further. **)**

**CLARASIMONE:**

Alan raises his hand then, saluting Davie and Catriona, as Zula pointed out… but also the viewer, across time and space. He turns and the music flares in a swell of emotion leaving me teary-eyed. Anyone, on this planet, still hoping for national self-determination and independence cannot not become emotional here, and one understands why IG chose this scene to close his showreel (<https://vimeo.com/67281527>)

His character becomes one with History and Scotland’s pantheon, and one would not be surprised to see Alan Breck come back to Scotland, upon the rising sun, the day the referendum is won.

And call me crazy, but that last shot of Breck? That’s Iain Glen himself becoming immortal.

**CODA**

" **When between bread and freedom the folk choose bread - they lose eventually everything, including bread. When the folk choose freedom - they get bread, home baked, and nobody is be able to take it away from them** ". Stepan Bandera (Our Ukrainian Alan Breck)

But in Westeros they say " **The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends** " - Ser Jorah Mormont

 **_Comfort and Indifference_ ** ( [ French ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language) : _Le confort et l'indifférence_ ) is a 1982 [ documentary film ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film) by [ Denys Arcand ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denys_Arcand) , offering an analysis of the [ 1980 Quebec referendum ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Quebec_referendum) , in which " [ sovereignty-association ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereignty-association) " was defeated as a first step to eventual secession from Canada. **The film takes the position that the referendum result was a failure of courage and that the Québécois were numbed by prosperity and the explicitly Machiavellian manipulations of federalist leaders.**

Ah! the eternal conundrum…


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